The parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector

JESUS addressed this parable to those who were convinced of their own righteousness and despised everyone else. “Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, ‘ O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity — greedy, dishonest, adulterous — or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week, and I pay tithes on my whole income.’ But the tax collector stood off at a distance and would not even raise his eyes to heaven but beat his breast and prayed, ‘ O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’ I tell you, the latter went home justified, not the former; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

REFLECTION O GOD, BE MERCIFUL TO ME A SINNER. V 9 tells us that Jesus’ parable is addressed to those who are convinced of their own righteousness and despise everyone else. Jesus corrects their attitude by presenting two kinds of people: the Pharisee, who represents the “righteous,” and the despised tax collector, who stands for the “humble.” A righteous person attributes all good things and achievements to himself and looks down on others. In contrast, the humble person looks to God as the source of all goodness. In prayer, the righteous person focuses only on himself while the humble one focuses on God and acknowledges that he has not perfectly responded to God’s love. Before God, it is the humble who is justified. These two represent the attitudes that could be present in every one of us. Self- righteousness makes us think and feel better than others while humility makes us acknowledge our dependence on God and see who we really are before the great God, poor sinners in need of God’s mercy.

With whom can I identify myself: 7 the Pharisee or the tax collector?